


Across the Stars

by idrilhadhafang



Series: In This Reality and the Next [2]
Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Force Bond (Star Wars), Graphic Description, Gray Poe Dameron, Heavy Angst, Injury Recovery, M/M, Major Character Injury, Movie: Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Pre-Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Snoke Being a Dick, Violence, not Leia friendly, sort of a revamp
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 03:11:38
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14886530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Following the battle of Starkiller Base, Poe finds he has a whole new set of problems, including but not limited to his Force Bond with Kylo Ren.





	1. Night Talks

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Title semi-inspired by the musical piece of the same name by John Williams.

 The image hit Poe like an oncoming speeder, and he saw Ben lying in the snow, wounded, wearing Kylo’s robes. 

Kylo’s robes. 

Even that realization was enough to make Poe feel like he’d been hit by a runaway speeder. The night that Ben had told him that Luke tried to kill him...Luke had good as created Kylo Ren. And Ben had been the one who tortured him, who hurt him...

And yet...

“We’ve got to go back!” he said. “Ben’s on that planet.” His head was still spinning at the very thought that Ben was Kylo Ren, that Ben was the man who had effectively tortured him, but he wasn’t about to leave Ben there to die. Not alone, at least. “We have to — ’’

”We can’t. Poe.” Snap, trying to sound reasonable. “We’ve done it. We’ve blown up the base.”

”Ben...”

”How do you even know?” Snap said, and it was like a dash of cold water that brought him back to reality.

How did he know? Was it just a hallucination? Was it more than that?

”I just do,” he said. “I saw...”

”We’ll head back to base,” Snap said. Poe didn’t like the implications of that, like there was somehow something wrong with his head. He hadn’t suffered a concussion or a break, he just had a feeling. He truly did.

Another flash in front of him, and he saw Ben, saw Kylo, in the snow once again, a lightsaber gash in his face, reaching up towards Poe, and for a moment, they were close enough to touch. Poe could feel Ben’s gloved fingers on his face, like they were really there. Just a touch, just a caress, nothing more.

”Ben...” he said, softly.

”Poe?” Jess’ voice. “Are you okay?”

”Yeah.” That was the best he could say in the end.

They landed, and it was chaos down there. Finn was being hauled in on a stretcher and Poe ran to him, and he couldn’t help but feel panic. Icy panic that seized up his chest. And it was later talking with Kalonia that he was assured Finn would survive, but even the knowledge that Kylo, that Ben, had done this...

No. Kylo. Because Ben would never have done something this horrible. Any of it, really.

He couldn’t have.

Even back in his room, after everything that happened, wasn’t much of a refuge. It was trying to get to sleep that he saw Kylo Ren lying next to him, clear as day.

Poe jolted. It wasn’t like he was going to draw his blaster; Kylo was badly injured, and lying next to him, and attacking an injured man wasn’t a good thing to do. That was one way to put it at least.

”You’re really afraid of an injured man?” Kylo said wryly — at least as wryly as he could considering his face had been slashed and he had generally been badly injured.

”No.” Poe said.

He got to take a closer look at Kylo; despite the now-healing gash on his face, there was something about him that was almost eerily beautiful. He wasn’t a young boy of nineteen like he was when he left, but a man. Ten years had passed, and he was perhaps one of the most hated beings in the galaxy. 

And Poe knew that he had a lot of questions for him, to say the least. 

“How could you?” he finally managed to say. “What you did to Finn — ’’

”Finn?” Then a bit of comprehension came over Kylo’s face. “FN-2187?” he said, and even the casual recitation of that designation was enough to give Poe the chills. 

“Finn,” Poe said. “His name’s Finn. He’s not just a number anymore.”

”Did you come up with it?”

”Yes.”

Something akin to a smile tugged at Kylo’s lips. “I should have known. It sounds like you to do something like that.”

”Right. My point is, how could you do something like that? To Finn, of all people? How could you do that to anyone, any of what you did?”

”FN-2187 betrayed the First Order.”

”He didn’t have any loyalty to the First Order in the first place,” Poe said. “You kidnapped him.”

Silence. “Hux and Phasma did,” Kylo said. “I had very little to do with it. I don’t train stormtroopers.”

”You let them do it. I just don’t understand you, Ben.”

Kylo’s reaction was almost instantaneous. His face contorted in a sort of snarl that was horrible to see, his healing scar seeming to be accentuated by that snarl. Poe wasn’t scared of him, though. “What? Can’t stand being reminded of the truth?”

”Ben Solo is dead,” Kylo said. “And he deserves to be.”

Poe felt his chest clench in that moment. Like it was being squeezed in a vise. How could Kylo even say that? 

“He can’t be. There has to be something, anything of you left...”

”That ship has flown,” Kylo said. 

Poe swallowed. “Why did you leave me?” he said. 

“I had to,” Kylo said.

”I could have protected you. I could have saved you.” Poe said. "You can still come back.”

Silence. Kylo closed his eyes. He didn’t look angry now; he looked tired. “It’s too late.”

”It isn’t. Ben...”

”That is not my name.” Kylo sighed as he spoke. “You don’t know that. But you’ll learn.”

Poe doubted, long after the conversation ended, that that would be the case. 


	2. Chaos at a Funeral

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe leaves the Resistance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing.
> 
> Author’s Notes: I admit I’m angry at TLJ Leia, and this chapter shows it. OT Leia and TFA Leia did (almost) nothing wrong but TLJ Leia is so cruel that I have to kind of vent about it. I’m sorry.

 Han Solo’s funeral didn’t go as smoothly as it should have, and part of that Poe knew was his own fault. But he couldn’t take it. It wasn’t just the fact that the General seemed to be outright opposed to the idea of giving Han a funeral, but it was also the fact that everything happening was a lie.

  
Poe already felt the words forming in his throat a lot like some sort of tar. It wasn’t like the funeral for Han Solo was wrong. It was the fact that Luke Skywalker had good as murdered Han Solo, using Kylo Ren as his instrument. He’d created Kylo Ren, and Poe had to say something...

He cleared his throat. Everyone turned to look at Poe, and Poe said, haltingly, “Han was...good as murdered by Luke Skywalker.”

Whispers broke out amongst the crowd. Shocked whispers. Poe continued. “I kept this secret long enough to keep Ben safe, but I can’t keep it any longer. Especially since Luke isn’t here to hurt him again. Luke tried to kill him. It’s not a stretch that after...he became Kylo Ren.”

One of the crowd spoke up. “Did you know he was — ’’

“Not until recently.” Poe said.

Leia stepped forward. “How dare you?” she said. “During a funeral, no less?”

”Your funeral’s based on a lie,” Poe said. “And I couldn’t keep lying. And you...you sent him there. You and Luke good as created Kylo Ren.”

More murmurs breaking out throughout the crowd. Poe knew he had to stop, but he kept going. “And I’m going to save him.”

”He can’t be saved — ’’

“He was Ben Solo. And some of us...some of us knew him. Maybe you can just leave him, but not me — ’’ 

Poe definitely didn’t expect the stinging slap that came his way. In between the shock that damn, the General could hit hard, and the shock that she did it in front of so many people, Poe could feel anger rising in him like bile. How could the General do this to him, and when he was telling the truth, no less?

The General spoke, and her voice was cold. “Poe Dameron, I expected so much better from you. But I suppose your selfishness and pride will be your downfall. Won’t it?”

”It won’t.” Poe said.

He left the funeral, much to the whispers around him. Some admiring, some disdainful, most uneasy.

BB-8 rolled alongside him, and Poe couldn’t help but feel at least a twinge of guilt. He shouldn’t have interrupted the funeral like that. And yet what was he supposed to do? Was he supposed to just stay silent? He couldn’t. He simply couldn’t.

Jess’ voice jolted him out of his thoughts. “Are you okay?”

”Yeah, fine.” Poe turned to look at her. “I guess staying quiet was better than telling people the truth.”

”Poe...she shouldn’t have humiliated you like that, but...” Jess bit her lip. “Maybe during a funeral wasn’t the right time.”

”I couldn’t just participate in something based on a lie, Jess.”

”It wasn’t Han’s fault.”

”Of course not. Between him, Luke and the General, Han’s the only one of those three who’s innocent.”

“Why would Luke want to kill his own nephew?”

Poe took a deep breath. Then, “I don’t know. But I have to find Ben. I have to bring him — not here, but somewhere safe." It hurt to consider the Resistance no longer safe, but it was the truth.

“He’s Kylo Ren. We probably have to arrest him.” Snap said.

“I’m not letting Luke hurt him again.” Poe sighed. “I just won’t.”

”He tortured you — ’’

”I know!” Poe snapped. “You think I don’t know that?" He rubbed his temples. “I can’t stay here. I know that. I’m not joining the First Order, but dear stars, I can’t support a lie...”

Jess and Snap looked at him with utter sympathy in their eyes. Then Jess spoke. “I’m not supporting someone who humiliated you in public either,” she said. “You’re a better leader than she could ever hope to be, Poe, and where you’re going, we support you.” A beat. “We have to get away from here.”

Snap sighed. “I’ll go just because of that,” he said. “I’ll talk with Lieutenant Connix, see if she can arrange a distraction.”

Kaydel Ko Connix was happy to help, of course. And even sneaking away, Poe felt a certain sort of determination. He was going to do this. He was going to find a way to save Ben Solo.

***

It was Snoke who headed down towards the shuttle even as it pulled in, and Kylo’s breath hitched. Of all the things that he didn’t want to see, the Supreme Leader seeing him incapacitated was definitely one of them.

Kylo thought he heard murmurs outside his room, and the Supreme Leader practically bellowing “Enough!” Kylo didn’t flinch, but his ears were practically ringing by the time that Snoke was done shouting. In a calmer voice, a quieter rumble, he said, “Let me pass. I wish to speak with Kylo Ren.”

The Supreme Leader practically towered over Kylo even as he walked in. Dressed in gold robes, gold robes that reached to his feet, he was practically magnificent. It was one of those things that only made Kylo even more in awe of him. When he had first beheld Snoke, he had been in awe, and now...now, he was very much afraid.

“The mighty Kylo Ren,” Snoke said, a hint of disdain in his voice. “How is your wound?”

”It is...nothing.”

”Indeed. I have to say I’m very disappointed in you, Kylo Ren. Your former master would despise you as much as I do if he saw how you failed on the battlefield that day.”

Heat all but climbed up Kylo Ren’s cheeks, a mixture of rage and embarrassment. If he wasn’t bitter about being beaten by the scavenger before, he at least felt a twinge of it looking at Snoke. But most of that bitterness was directed at himself. He could have been stronger, better, faster...all this training under Snoke that got undone by a bowcaster bolt and a young woman who just discovered the strength she could wield...

”I was — ’’

”Wounded?” Snoke sniffed even as he spoke. “Other Dark Siders have suffered more grievous wounds and still they fought. We are too strong to be overcome by mere weaknesses of the flesh.”

Kylo knew, deep in his bones, that Snoke was right.

Snoke raised his head just then, and Kylo could tell that he sensed something. He could sense it too. “Interesting,” he said. “It appears that someone’s coming to your rescue. Someone you know well, at that.” A beat. “Someone you once loved, at that.”

Kylo didn’t need to use the Force to figure out who it was. It was Poe Dameron.

”Shall we?” Snoke said.

Kylo got up. His abdomen still ached where Chewbacca’s bowcaster had struck him. And he followed Snoke into the throne room of the _Supremacy_.


End file.
